Jess and Wildcat go separate ways after hunting down the Whittaker gang. He begins his hunt for the slippery killer, Buck Benson. He locates him in the town of Starkey, Texas, but he’s going by the name of Harry Black. He’s now married and has a young son. The people of the town have even elected him as the mayor and, by all accounts, he is a very generous man. Jess finds himself in a quandary regarding this man who has no memory of his past life.
Jess decides to hunt his next man, Rick Gale, but he receives an urgent message from the schoolmarm, Martha Heller. He drops everything and heads straight to Harrison, Texas. The marshal of the town ends up wounded badly and Jess pins on his United States Marshals badge to enforce the law there. Jess is in love with Martha but knows that he can’t act on his feelings until he hangs up his guns and retires.
Jess begins his hunt for the cagey and elusive killer, Rowdy Saltzman. As the hunt continues, he ends up riding closer to the border of New Mexico Territory.
At the same time, the beautiful and deadly female bounty hunter, Wildcat, chases down the Whittaker gang. She ends up heading east toward the border of Texas.
Their two paths cross again and they discover they’re both looking for some of the same outlaws. They team up once again to hunt down the rest of them together. The Whittaker gang has a plan, but will it succeed.
Jess’s next hunt leads him to the town of Buckner, Texas, where he meets a town marshal who is still grieving the loss of his wife. The marshal has turned to whiskey to drown his sorrows and finds himself in trouble, not able to perform his duties.
Feeling sorry for the marshal, Jess helps him out, trying to capture the men who committed a jailbreak in town. Jess has to deal with the marshal’s addiction as well as try to make sure it doesn’t get them both killed.
After a successful hunt, they return to Buckner, where Jess is faced with yet another man who wants him dead. The way the gunfight unfolds leaves Jess second-guessing his mission in life, which puts him in the most vulnerable position he’s ever been in.
Jess finally gets to relax in Stratton, Texas, for a week of fishing, visiting and enjoying his house on the lake. His rest comes to an abrupt end when he finds out that a professional hired gun by the name of Len Bowden is in Stratton, asking about him.
Jess confronts the gun handler, but after killing him, he finds a map of his hometown of Black Creek, Kansas, in Bowden’s pocket. Jess’s name is printed on the map next to the town. That causes him to be suspicious and he starts heading to Black Creek to find out what it might mean.
Clay Morgan is living on the lake in Black Creek. When he finds out that a killer by the name of Glen Erlander in town asking questions about Jess, he confronts Erlander and kills him. Morgan finds a map identical to the one Jess found on Bowden. Jess hears this news and starts to put things together.
He heads straight to Black Creek and discovers that he has even more killers coming to find him, but he doesn’t know who they are or when they will arrive.
On the way back from Kansas City, Kansas, to Texas, Jess is on the hunt for Buck Lochmann. After catching him, he takes the body to Richman, Kansas, where he meets an old friend, John Booth. He’s also a bounty hunter, but he’s almost too old for the business. Jess gives Booth a hand, but then they separate again.
Jess hunts another man, and in the process, helps a woman and her young son, Doug. After transporting them to the town of Kensington, he ends up meeting Booth there again. Booth is planning on going after the vicious Anthony Clark gang, but Jess knows that Booth is not up to the task and might get himself killed while trying.
Jess and Booth go on the hunt together. The hunt turns deadly and difficult, but Jess is never one to let that get in his way.